Hey all,

Following on from my post yesterday about my Bridgeport table wobble/slack and specs etc I wanted to start by apologising for my initial impatience ref replies and indeed thank all of those that in fact did. THANKYOU.

So for some reason painting the spare bedroom skirting board got brushed aside!, and I continued to play with my mill adjustments in anticipation of switch on day …coming soon if my sparky can keep to his promise.

So renewed with enthusiasm and additional knowledge THANKS MARK and others…… I continued to adjust both the lead screw and gib settings.

Well, I can say that I can get close to the initial shipping spec of 0.0008 Inch or approx 20 microns for metric heads, table slack/wobble at least on the x and y axis…not so bothered about the Z. However …… in doing so as you will have all guessed I am sure, movement towards the axis extremes has left me feeling that I can cancel my gym membership…..

The gib adjustments were made with freely and backed off lead screw adjustments, so as to think in my little mind that they are not effecting table travel.

Compromising on 35 micron slack on both the x and y axis wobble left for a noticeable, but I feel not unreasonable or unbearable, table tightening towards the extremes.

Turning my attention to the lead screw backlashes.

So again same problem as gibs, yes of cause you twit I hear you all say….. I can indeed reduce the backlash to nice figures i.e 3 thou, but my workout starts again when moving the tables to the extremes.

So settling for 4 thou on the y axis, very very happy, and yes its perhaps tighter than it should be at the extremes to achieve this figure; my problem is with the x axis lead screw.

Adjustments to compensate for backlash on the X axis lead screw result in the table becoming tooooo tight at the extremes very quickly. SO I have settled for 8 thou backlash on this axis.

Whilst the backlash is not a major problem for me as I have a DRO fitted and will take care when climb milling, which I favour when working, I was wondering on peoples thoughts as to the worth of changing out the lead screw, and gib on this axis?

Yes I know the costs, and I only think about the replacement as its not particularly difficult. However I don't want to (at this stage) go to the trouble of changing our the lead screw nuts. Much more work, and I still have to paint the spare room skirting board at some stage.

So am I nuts, don't all reply at once on this one! I mean is it worth changing out the lead screw and or gib or both considering the table ways are worn, but more to the point without also changing the axis nut? Would I be hissing in the wind?

Anyone done this before?, not the hissing in the wind!. If so do you think it was worth it?, or should I leave well alone until I can muster up the effort to change the lead screw nuts as well?

Finally at last you cry. Finally; has anyone had experience with new Bridgeport gibs that they might be prepared to share? I assume that they are a straight swap and come complete with oil ways and grooves already machined? Or would I have more work than I bargained for making them fit and usable?

Waiting patiently for your comments, if I haven't put you to sleep with my little story,zzzzzzzzzzz

Much appreciated

Gary